Porous Nature Of Our Port Systems Should Be Fixed

The Chief Operating Officer of Rana Motors, has blamed the influx of lower grade spare parts on the Ghanaian market to the porous nature of our checking systems at the ports.

According to Kassem Odaymat, Ghana does not have certified spare parts dealers leading to the sale of cheaper spare parts which easily destroy their businesses.

He made this known at a round-table discussion on spare parts and lubricants organized by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in Accra.

“The biggest problem we have as manufacturers, representatives is the systems and the trust to give the dealership to someone.

When you say you want to service this car, these are the spare parts you want to use, the lubricant you want to use, the next thing you see, the mechanic has gone to buy cheaper and lower grade spare parts, lubricants. He is making more money because he has bought lower grade spare parts. At the end of the day he is affecting your image as a brand”, he lamented.

Kassem Odaymat therefore called on government to put a system in place to avoid the influx of cheaper grade spare parts.

On his part, chairman of Abbosey OKai spare parts dealers association Joseph Paddy blamed the influx of fake products on the Ghanaian market on the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) who has the mandate to check the items before they hit the market.

“We talk to GSA and they tell us the standards but we don’t know how come those oils go through the ports. The system is not working. Something is wrong somewhere because we have the GSA at the point of entry and before you realize, you will see reconditioned oil in the market” he said.

Head of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Cyril Darkwa, said his outfit had plans to make Ghana the industrial hub of Africa, as passenger vehicles emerge as one of the country’s most important re-export markets.

To this end, he said his outfit was ready to provide all necessary support and resources to Ghanaian companies that wanted to enter the Dubai market.

Mr Darkwa said the Chamber sees huge potential for Ghana and Dubai to boost bilateral trade of vehicles, auto spare parts, lubricants and other related products, given that, urging the dealers to take advantage.

Darkwa indicated that Ghana is a market of strategic importance to the Dubai Chamber, and it has worked to build strong relationships within the country’s public and private sectors since we opened our Accra office in 2015.

“Our presence in Ghana supports our strategy of exploring promising markets around the world and providing our 220,000 members access to new growth opportunities” he noted.

The meeting was for the Chamber to engage stakeholders in the Ghanaian automobile industry to find out from them at first hand, problems that they encounter in the automotive and spare parts industry and see how best it can assist them as well as discuss partnership requirements to increase trade.